Climate change is the most widespread & complex problem humanity has ever faced! There is no time to waste and we need to turn green talk into profound green action. This is the intention of the GREEN TIMES.

A system based on perpetual growth cannot function without peripheries and externalities. There must always be an extraction zone – from which materials are taken without full payment – and a disposal zone, where costs are dumped in the form of waste and pollution. As the scale of economic activity increases until capitalism affects everything, from the atmosphere to the deep … [Read more...]

Sincere condolences go out to the affected families and communities that have fallen victim to the devastating human tragedy caused by this week’s heavy rains and flooding in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
A huge amount of plastic pollution has also ended up in KZN’s rivers and beaches. This event, more than any in recent times, reinforces the need for all of us – the industry, the … [Read more...]

Greenpeace Africa activists and volunteers delivered a #PlasticMonster partly covered with Nestlé branded plastic packaging right back to its source: the Nestlé factory servicing Kenya and other East African countries, calling on the multinational corporation to end its reliance on single-use plastic.
Activists also held protests at Nestlé offices in the Philippines, … [Read more...]

Nobody is more disgusted at plastic pollution than those of us who work in the plastics industry. It is distressing to see our products washed up on beaches and littering the landscape.
But the call to ban plastic products is a simplistic response to a complex problem. What’s required is a rational solution to the genuine crisis of plastic pollution, not an emotional … [Read more...]

Activists from Greenpeace Africa scaled several iconic statues across Johannesburg and Pretoria this morning to demand action on air pollution. The activists fitted the statues with emergency gas masks to pressure the National Air Quality Officer to protect citizens’ right to clean air.
Famous statues of the Mother with Child at Bree Taxi Rank, Brenda Fassie in Newtown, the … [Read more...]

A group of Greenpeace Africa volunteers in Cape Town has started an ambitious campaign calling on South Africa's top political parties to adopt a ban on single-use plastics in their election manifestos ahead of this year's presidential election.
The group is urging South Africa's political elite to recognise that the country is lagging behind in the continental battle … [Read more...]

Our short month ends with political parties’ manifestos being published for all to see. First thing I look for has to be how will they preserve our habitat so that our and all children can make a future here?
No matter how much the focus zones into other matters, if we don’t have sufficient and clean water, food and renewable energy all that talk will be wasted, for we … [Read more...]

Climate change and pollution is a global issue and has a significant impact on the ocean. Conserving marine and coastal ecosystems is essential. Global issues tend to bring together like-minded projects spanning across continents. One such project is the Bremen-Durban Marine Environmental Education Network also known as Ocean Champs.
This project is jointly implemented by … [Read more...]

Wild Oceans is excited to be taking part in what will see more than a thousand people spanning 6 continents joining in on a worldwide search for tiny plastic pellets (nurdles) in the first Great Nurdle Hunt taking place from the 8th till the 17th of February.
The hunt is taking place on 6 continents in over 16 countries, with more than 60 organisations and 170 individual … [Read more...]

The West Coast Food Sovereignty and Solidarity Forum and the communities of Koekenaap and Lutzville on the West Coast are protesting tomorrow at a meeting between Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe and a mining company, Mineral Sands Resources (MSR) because of their plans to expand mining along the West Coast without any consultation.
Despite not honouring the … [Read more...]

Do you know that ear buds are one of the top ocean polluters which we pick up during beach clean-ups? Hence the following good news is so welcome:
Woolworths has kick started the year with its latest announcement in its journey to ZERO packaging waste to landfill, with the roll out of Woolworths branded paper-stemmed earbuds. Switching to paper-stemmed earbuds might seem … [Read more...]

A groundbreaking analysis of satellite data from 1 June to 31 August this year reveals the world’s largest NO2 air pollution hotspots across six continents in the most detail to date. Greenpeace analysis of the data points to coal and transport as the two principle sources of air pollution, with Mpumalanga in South Africa topping the chart as the world’s largest NO2 hotspot … [Read more...]

One of South Africa’s most famous landmarks, Robben Island, was freed from some of its waste burden as more than 100 volunteers, guided by the national PET Recycling Company (PETCO) and Plastics SA, embarked on the island’s biggest ever waste collection drive.
The tourist attraction and World Heritage Site, which draws over 300 000 visitors annually, is plagued by visitor … [Read more...]